Vullnet Sanaja (Anibar)
- Position
- Phase 1 and 2 Project Partner
- Location
- Kosovo
- School
- Anibar International Animation Festival
- Faculty profile link
- http://anibar.org/
- Position
- Executive Director, Anibar
- @VullnetSanaja @anibarfest
- Vimeo
- https://vimeo.com/anibarfestival
Vullnet Sanaja is a social activist who has been advocating change in Kosovo since the age of 17. As a teenager, he worked as a project coordinator at Environmentally Responsible Action, an NGO that focused on changing individual behavior and raising awareness through outdoor education. In 2010, together with fellow film enthusiast, Vullnet established the Anibar International Animation Film Festival, and, in 2011, also served as a co-founder of the Into the Park music festival. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Anibar where he leads passionate art activists and encourages young people to express their ideas and worldview through animation while also focusing on important social issues pertinent to the youth of Kosovo. In addition to his social activism, Vullnet studied Computer Science and Engineering and worked as a software developer in Prishtina. He also served on the board for the Kosovar Cultural Forum which connects cultural organizations in Kosovo.
ANIBAR was founded in 2010 by a group of young activist artists, as an organization that seeks to promote animation and share knowledge about animation methods and techniques through capacity-building activities, such as training seminars and workshops, film screenings, debates, and other activities that provide more visibility for emerging artists. The organization is responsible for Anibar International Festival which is the only animation festival in Kosovo. The festival is a yearly event and its goal is to promote animation with a view to share with the people from Kosovo the latest global trends of animation. It also serves to help and encourage Kosovo youngsters to express themselves and their ideas through animation by discussing the topics that they are passionate about. This way, they tend to bring out more topics and break civic apathy through cultural activism.
Anibar are a partner on the Phase 1 Kosovo project 'ACT: Arts, critical thinking and active citizenship', as well as the Phase 2 Large Grant Project 'Reanimating Contested Spaces (ReSpace): Designing Participatory Civic Education for and with Young People in Kosovo and Rwanda.'